Bent On Strange, Magic and card tricks

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Bent on Strange
The Ultimate Key Bending Routine
by Bob Cassidy
All contents copyright ¨ 2002 by Robert E Cassidy
In the early 1970's, at the "dawning of the Age of Aquarius," a young
Israeli named Uri Geller attracted worldwide attention with his "psychic" abilities.
While he demonstrated several paranormal skills, it was his "psychokinetic"
ability to bend silverware, borrowed keys, and nails that set him apart from other
"New Age" psychics. In the years that followed many mentalists and magicians
added "metal bending" routines to their repertoires, and many sleights and
gimmicks have been devised to facilitate the effect.
You may have noticed that most of the modern material on the subject
deals with silverware and coins. Key bending seems to have fallen by the
wayside. This is unfortunate, for the "psychic bending" of a borrowed key is, in
my opinion, the strongest effect of the genre. It also makes a performer's
subsequent coin, nail, or silverware bending far more effective. The following
comparison illustrates my reasoning:
Silverware -
Anyone who has ever tried using a cheap spoon to scoop frozen ice
cream is familiar with the malleability of inexpensive silverware. Thus, it is not
unusual for many spectators to assume that "spoon bending" is a type of magic
trick. Without a very direct and convincing presentation, many spectators will
privately conclude, "He must have bent it when I wasn't looking." (Which is, of
course, exactly what he did!)
Silverware was the object of choice at the "Metal Bending Parties" that
were popular in the late nineteen-seventies. At these rather strange affairs, the
guests would stroke spoons or forks and "will" them to bend. Many of them
succeeded, thus "proving" that psychokinesis is not only real, but is a latent
ability in most people, not just "super psychics." Often, these parties were given
in order to sign people up for "psychic development classes."
There were cynics, of course, who suggested that some participants,
either consciously or unconsciously, bent their spoons by hand, thus "inspiring"
many others to do the same in order to share the limelight. It was suggested
that the success rate would diminish considerably if the participants were given
heavy nails, or spikes, upon which to focus their "psychic energies."
That is the first weak point about silverware bending - it's easy enough to
do it
without
special powers. The second weakness is that it is often not
possible to borrow forks or spoons, and the performer must provide his own.
Psychokinetic effects of this nature lose much of their impact and mystery when
they are not performed with borrowed objects.
Nails and coins -
Just as everyone knows that silverware can be easily bent by hand, it is
equally apparent that large nails and coins, absent superhuman strength or
special tools, cannot be. Since nails are not easily borrowed, that would seem to
suggest that coins are the ideal objects to use in this type of demonstration.
Unfortunately, this is not the case.
The weakness in coin bending is that it has no "logical disconnect." A
spectator, who appreciates that a coin cannot be bent with the bare hands, is left
with only one non-paranormal explanation - the coin must be switched for a bent
one. The impact of any coin bending routine relies on the use of a borrowed coin
and "proof" that the coin is not switched for one that has previously been bent.
(And a switch is the method used in virtually every practical coin bending
routine.) Several routines successfully accomplish this end. None of them,
however, can match the personal and psychological impact obtained by bending
a borrowed key.
Keys are the Key to Effective Metal Bending
It should be remembered that Geller gave the impression that he could
bend virtually any type of metal object with the power of his mind. That is not the
impression given by mentalists who confine their bending routines to silverware
only. I have often heard Geller's spoon bending criticized as being "primitive"
when compared to the silverware bending of many modern performers. This is
the result of thinking like a mentalist, or a magician, rather than as a layperson.
Geller did not have to worry about people realizing that spoons could easily be
bent by hand, for he had convincingly ruled out manual bending (and also made
it much easier to get away with) by also bending nails and other objects that
could not possibly be bent by purely manual means. He didn't have to worry
about not being able to borrow silverware or nails; because he borrowed keys
and bent them as well, he gave the impression that the spoons and nails could
just as easily have been borrowed.
The spoons simply seemed to be an effective way of letting the folks in
the back of the room get a better view of the psychokinetic action. (The only
advantage that spoon bending has over key-bending is that it is more visible to a
large audience.)
Thus, key bending is a powerful prelude to a silverware bending routine. It
makes the spoon bending seem much more impossible than it would otherwise
appear to be.
But there is one other major advantage to using borrowed keys. IÓve had
people come up to me ten years after a performance and show me a bent key.
ÐDo you remember the night you did that?" they often ask. Now, I have never
heard of anyone carrying around a bent spoon, coin, or nail as a souvenir of a
performance. But people always have their key rings with them when they leave
home. And that is where they always put the bent key when you return it to them;
there to remain as a souvenir, a conversation piece, and constant ÐproofÑ of a
strange experience.
Despite the fact that key bending is such a powerful and amazing
demonstration, it is not often performed by modern mentalists. There are, I think,
three reasons for this:
1) Key bending is often perceived to be more difficult that spoon bending
(or coin switching).
2) It requires special gimmicks or unusual manual strength.
3) It is too difficult to hide the bending maneuver, or to perform it
effortlessly and undetectably.
None of the above is true.
Key bending is actually ÐeasierÑ than silverware bending. No gimmicks or
unusual strength is required, and, as I will demonstrate, the necessary
maneuvers can be performed Ðright under their nosesÑ in a completely
undetectable manner.
[Lest I be misunderstood, I want to make it perfectly clear that present day
metal benders such as Banachek, Guy Bavli, and Alain Nu, have devised
brilliant approaches to silverware bending and their works are highly
recommended. They have also devised various approaches to anticipate and
handle the objections I have raised. My point is simply this: Most laymen realize
that silverware is easily bent by hand, and an effective spoon bending routine
must negate that possibility. Most house keys and car keys are extremely
difficult, if not impossible, to bend, a fact that is immediately apparent to any
layman who decides to give it a try. This is why key bending is actually ÐeasierÑ
to perform effectively. It is ÐobviousÑ to laypeople that the result cannot be
obtained by purely physical means.]
Shortly after Uri GellerÓs early appearances on American television, ÐThe
Amazing Randi,Ñ a skeptical magician and spokesperson for the ÐCommittee for
the Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal,Ñ publicly demonstrated what he
alleged to be GellerÓs key bending secret. Basically, his method was this: He
used two keys. The tip of one key was inserted into the slot of the other, which
acted as a leverage point. The first key was pushed forward with the thumb,
thus creating the bend. The following photograph illustrates RandiÓs ÐmoveÑ:
The key that rests across my middle and ring fingers is the popular
ÐKwikSetÑ brand key that has a rather large slot. The problem with this method is
that it is difficult to do undetectably. The action of pushing forward with the
thumb to produce the bend also forces the tip of lower key to press
uncomfortably, and sometimes painfully, into the palm. Furthermore, the action
of the thumb pressing forward on the head of the uppermost key is quite visible
and must be covered by strong misdirection.
The idea did, however, provide the foundation for my method and
handling, which I first described about twenty years ago. Unfortunately, my
description was somewhat less than clear. (I think the only people who
understood what I was talking about were the mentalists and magicians who
actually saw me demonstrate the handling in one of my lectures.)
Here is how I originally described my handling of the ÐmoveÑ:
"...The main thing is to find a key with a large slot in it, like a KwikSet. Don't use a car
key; it is very likely to break, which will not go over too well with the owner. Remember,
this is not the key you are going to bend; it is the one that will act as a bender. If
possible, all of the keys used should be borrowed. By borrowing several, you will almost
always find a suitable "bender." As a precaution, though, I always carry a KwikSet key in
my pocket, which is easily added to the borrowed keys if necessary.
"In previous descriptions of the method, notably Randi's, the slot end of the "bender"
projects from the performer's hand. The tip of the key to be bent is casually inserted into
the slot and then is pushed forward with the thumb to create the bend. This should be
done during the collection process, long before the spectators believe that anything has
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • braseria.xlx.pl

    •